Filed under Dutch cuisine …

A frikandel is one of the most popular Dutch fast food items. They are usually produced from “mechanically separated meat”, which means any meat that can be obtained through mechanical means from a carcass after ‘regular’ butchering has finished. To make up for the lack of proper meat, a lot of spices are used as well … Continue reading →

Duivekater is a traditional festive bread that originates in Amsterdam and surroundings and is now still popular in the Zaanstreek where I grew up (and still live), just north of Amsterdam. There are sources as far back as the 16th century describing this bread, and it is depicted on paintings like this one from Dutch … Continue reading →

Many people don’t make soup anymore. They just buy a can or a package of instant soup. Homemade soup is more flavorful, contains less salt, more actual chicken meat, and no chemical flavors and preservatives. The traditional way of making chicken soup is to boil a whole chicken in water with aromatic vegetables, and then … Continue reading →

Dutch cuisine is not known for its finesse, but more for hearty dishes like stamppot, potatoes and vegetables mashed together. One of the classic winter dishes is zuurkoolstamppot met rookworst, sauerkraut mashed with potatoes and served with smoked pork sausage. Sometimes other ingredients are added like apple, but here is the basic version. Some people … Continue reading →

Stroopwafels are a Dutch treat that is very popular both inside and outside the Netherlands. They are thin round waffles, filled with syrup that has a hint of cinnamon. They are very addictive! When a Dutchman wants to charm a foreigner, the best gift to bring is a box of these syrup-filled waffles. They can … Continue reading →

This is the last post in a trilogy of posts with the recipes of the components for the dessert that I served at game & wine dinner parties over the last three Saturdays: marzipan mushrooms, almond madeleines, and in this final part: spiced pear ice cream. I wanted to serve something fitting for the autumn/winter, … Continue reading →

Before we had refrigerators, airplanes, and greenhouses, fresh vegetables were hard to come by in winter. And so our ancestors developed many ways to preserve vegetables for the winter. Even though it is not a necessity anymore, we keep preserving vegetables because we like the flavors. An important example in Dutch (and other northern European) … Continue reading →

Summer has finally started (not just on the calendar but also the weather) and that means that cakes for which you don’t have to turn on the oven are the preferred solution for dessert. Although this recipe is tagged “baking”, it doesn’t require any actual baking. Kwarktaart is a typical Dutch kind of cake: a … Continue reading →

Limburg is a province in the South of the Netherlands that is famous for its pies, known as vlaai. I’ve already posted recipes for a version with cherries, kersenvlaai, and one with apricots, abrikozenvlaai. One of the most famous types is vlaai with gooseberries (kruisbessen in Dutch, krosjele or kroezjel in the local dialect), topped with … Continue reading →

Roze koeken are very popular at Dutch highschool as a snack after (or instead of) a lunchbox full of sandwiches. The pink glaze on top of store-bought roze koeken looks and tastes a bit chemical, and it is. But that doesn’t stop my countrymen from loving them and eating lots of them. Because it is … Continue reading →

Hazelnut and coffee are a great combination, and this torte has it all: crunchy hazelnuts, crispy hazelnut meringue, and a luscious coffee-flavored buttercream. For this cake I used the recipe of the famous retired Dutch pastry chef, Cees Holtkamp. I’ve posted a hazelnut meringue cake with a simplified buttercream before, and CampariGirl commented that I should try … Continue reading →

Kibbeling is one of the most popular Dutch fish snacks. The name has been derived from kabeljauwwang (cod cheek), although nowadays a lot of kibbeling is no longer made from actual cod cheeks but from other pieces of cod, hake, or haddock. When I saw cod cheeks at the fish monger, it was easy to decide that I would … Continue reading →

December 5 is the date of the Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) celebration in the Netherlands. Sinterklaas is a bearded fellow dressed in red who gives presents to children. Sounds familiar? The Coca Cola company moved him to Christmas and the North Pole, but Santa Claus was definitely modeled after Sinterklaas. Saint Nicholas was an actual bishop … Continue reading →

There isn’t much Dutch cuisine to speak of, but a popular tasty dish that is available all along the coast is “schol met patat en sla”, or fried plaice with fries and salad. Plaice is a flatfish that is common in the North Sea, it has the shape of a turbot and has orange-colored spots. … Continue reading →

Babi Panggang is Malaysian/Indonesian for “roasted pork”. So why did I spell it with only one ‘g’ in the title of this post? Because this is the Dutch version that is only known in the Netherlands (and perhaps Belgium) and is one of the top-5 dishes served in ‘Chinese’ take-out restaurants in the Netherlands. And … Continue reading →

In many workplaces in in the Netherlands it is a tradition to treat your coworkers to baked goods on your birthday, either homemade or store-bought. About a decade ago I worked with a guy called Benno and he was crazy about banana eclairs (bananensoezen in Dutch). Bananensoezen are banana-shaped eclairs, stuffed with pastry cream, whipped … Continue reading →

Saucijzenbroodjes (sausage rolls) are a very popular snack in the Netherlands. They consist of spicy sausage meat encased in puff pastry and are usually served warm. I don’t like regular saucijzenbroodjes very much. I think it is something about the spice mix. Some years ago I decided to create my own sausage rolls to serve … Continue reading →

Thanks to the new ‘Flashback’ feature on this blog and to the enthusiasm of Shanna of Curls and Carrots, it is time for another international food blogging project. Recently I featured Classic Dutch Pea Soup as a Flashback from two years ago, and Shanna commented she wanted to prepare a variation of the recipe. I … Continue reading →

Today was my birthday and in the Netherlands it is customary (although not everyone complies) to treat your co-workers to cake on your birthday. This cake can be store-bought or homemade, and it’s easy to guess what I chose. I love gevulde speculaas, which is spiced sweet shortbread (speculaas or also known as speculoos outside … Continue reading →

Braised beef is known as “draadjesvlees” in the Netherlands. This literally means “thread meat”, referring to the flaky structure of the meat. Good draadjesvlees should be juicy and tender, not tough and dry. This means braising it over low heat for a long time. One of the most common cuts that is used for this … Continue reading →

This is the fourth and last installment (for now, anyway) of my series of Dutch sweets made with batter, which so fas has covered pancakes, oliebollen and appelflappen. Poffertjes are tiny pancakes made with a yeasted batter in a special pan called a poffertjespan. They are usually served with melted butter and powdered sugar. Poffertjes … Continue reading →

Appelflappen are almost as common as a treat for New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands as oliebollen. Appelflappen are also known as “appelbeignets”, and to make it more confusing puff fastry envelopes stuffed with apple and then baked are also known as appelflappen. Appelflappen are apple fritters: apple slices dipped in batter and subsequently deep-fried. … Continue reading →

Happy New Year everyone! May you eat well in 2014! On New Year’s Eve we eat oliebollen (literally: “oil balls”) in the Netherlands. Oliebollen are deep fried yeasted batter, often filled with raisins. They have been prepared in the Netherlands for centuries, and can be seen for instance on paintings from the 17th century. They … Continue reading →

Today is Kees’ birthday. I asked him what he’d like to eat for his birthday. He said: “Pannenkoeken!” (Dutch for pancakes.) This is the same answer that most Dutch children will provide by the way 😉 Dutch pancakes are thinner than American pancakes and thicker than French crêpes. Dutch pancakes are not usually eaten for breakfast, … Continue reading →

There are few vegetables that have different names in the UK, the US, and Australia, but witlof is one of them. Witlof is what it’s called in Australia and the Netherlands, but it is called Belgian Endive in the US and Chicory in the UK. In this post I’m going to stick to witlof, as … Continue reading →

The dinner I cooked for Clayton when he visited had to contain something Dutch. After some thinking, I came up with Limburgse abrikozenvlaai, a tart from the province of Limburg that is made with a yeasted dough. I already wrote about kersenvlaai (with cherries) a while ago. Since it’s summer, fresh apricots are available. The … Continue reading →

Eating hot dogs is not something that really fits with my reputation. It is true that I do not generally eat hot dogs. In winter I do however like to make my own gourmet version and that goes like this: I bake my own wholewheat buns, I procure artisan prize-winning smoked pork sausage (rookworst) from … Continue reading →

The province of Limburg in the South of the Netherlands is famous for its pies, called “Limburgse Vlaai” in Dutch or simply “Vla” in the local dialect. Vlaai is especially baked or bought for a birthday party. You may think this looks like an Italian crostata di ciliegie (cherry tart), but the main difference is that a crostata or … Continue reading →

Croquettes are a well-known way of using up leftovers, as many leftovers can be turned into a tasty snack by breading and deep-frying them. Croquetas are very popular in Spain as tapas, and in Italy leftover risotto is turned into arancini. If you’ve ever been invited to a “borrel”, a Dutch cocktail party after work or … Continue reading →

Belgian Fries (known as “Vlaamse friet” or simply “patat” in the Netherlands) are very popular in both Belgium and the Netherlands. The main difference with French fries is that they are thicker. Belgian fries should be freshly cut, fried twice, fluffy on the inside, crispy on the ouside, have a distinct potato taste, and are … Continue reading →